Heron vs Frog

Here's some photos I unearthed from the archives. These were taken five years ago, on a walk through the Ramble in Central Park. Walking along the water's edge on the Point, I encountered a Black-Crowned Night Heron.

Frankly, I almost walked right into him, but he was a little too busy to worry about me.

The heron struggled with that frog for quite a while. He kept bashing it on logs and tree roots. Once in a while he'd half-release it in the water, I guess to see if it was still struggling. As far as I could see, it wasn't--I think it might have been dead already.

I believe he was mostly having trouble figuring out how to swallow it. That was one of the largest frogs I've ever seen in Central Park.

Eventually I had to leave to go to work. The heron still had his own work to finish when I left.

Jamaica Bay, July 4th Weekend

this means you!

At the beginning of July, Elena and I went out to Jamaica Bay with some friends. Although it's still a little early for shorebirds, some interesting birds had been seen there and we wanted to get the lay of the land.

Skimmer skimming

We arrived just about at low tide. On the West Pond side, things were a little slow. There were a number of egrets, both Great and Snowy, and some Boat-Tailed Grackles were out on the mud flats acting like shorebirds. A few Gulls and Common Terns. Then as the tide began to turn, I saw three black-and-white birds with red bills, low over the breach in the pond.

against the tide

They were Black Skimmers, doing what they do best. They were so graceful as they skimmed the surface, flying against the tide. They looked like they were in slow motion, though they were obviously flying quite fast. It was so mesmerizing that I didn't manage to get a shot with them all in the frame. Thrilling to see!

Osprey suburb

Elsewhere at Jamaica Bay, nesting is in full swing. The Osprey platform at the West Pond has two young birds on it, and there's another Osprey nest north of the North Garden

lookout

There were a lot of Yellow Warblers around, and many singing House Wrens. Over at the East Pond, I counted fifty-eight adult Mute Swans. I understand that some have seen well over a hundred, plus cygnets.

you, I don't trust

We didn't see any cygnets, but this adult cruised back and forth in front of us, clearly very suspicious, so I assume he had a nest nearby.

loafing Oystercatchers

On the far side were a large collection of Oystercatchers--I counted 25--and many Glossy Ibises. There were a number of Forster's Terns and Least Terns, hunting by hovering over then water and then plunging in with an impressive bang.

the stare of the Egret

There were only a few birds around Big John's Pond--it was only a couple of hours after low tide--but we had nice close looks from the blind at a Snowy Egret and several Glossy Ibises.

Ibises at work

Alose a bunch of Black-Crowned Night Herons were hanging out, including this juvenile, who I guess is so young he's still kind of gray-downy instead of teh brown-streaky appearance I'm used to with young BCNHs.

young and lovely

There were fewer shorebirds than I expected, but of course we didn't try to go around the muddy areas at the north and south ends of the East Pond, not having knee-boots. We didn't see any of the reported rarities--no White-Faced Ibis, Royal Tern, Gull-Billed Tern, or Cattle Egret, but we had a great time.

Things I haven't seen

Almost every time I go out birding, I see things I haven't seen before. Memorial Day weekend was particularly rich.

On Saturday, I went up to Randall's Island for the first time in a couple of months. It wasn't terribly productive, but there was a Killdeer at the salt marsh on the north shore of the island. That's not too unusual, but its behavior was not what I'm used to seeing.

The Kildeers I've seen there are usually transients and quiet; this one was calling constantly, as befits its scientific name (Charadrius vociferus, which is Latin for "loudmouth plover"). The call wasn't the killdeer that given it its common name, but a several long high peeps followed by a descending series of short notes.

And then it flew off the rocks in the saltmarsh to the baseball field, ran several steps, and flung itself in the infield dirt with one wing stretched out.

distraction

A distraction display! I'd never seen one. It must have a nest in the marsh area. I hope that works out OK, but between the starlings, the grackles, and the gulls, I'm a little dubious.

There was also a Laughing Gull, my first of the year, hanging out with some Ring-Billed Gulls on the outfield of another baseball diamond, and giving me a good view.

gull, Laughing and loafing

Sunday was a glorious day to be out in Central Park, but not if you were a starling who got a little too close to this Black-Crowned Night Heron.

nature red in tooth and claw

I've seen herons eat baby birds before, but this was a full-sized adult, and he had a great deal of trouble swallowing it. He eventually got it down, but looked quite saturnine afterward.

Monday I made an excursion to the northern part of Central Park. at the Pool (about 103rd street on the west side), I saw ... um, well. I saw two male Mallards mating.

well, I never!

I see from Teh Google that this is not rare, but I had never seen it before. It was clearly mating behavior, and not fighting, because they did the typical head-bobbing display at each other before one ducked down in the water and the other mounted.

Things were pretty quiet otherwise. Up at the the compost area on The Mount, where sometimes shorebirds stop off to browse in the ditches, there was a family of House Wrens with just-fledged young begging for food.

baby House Wren

Thinking about it, I don't recall ever seeing baby wrens before.

Back downtown in the Ramble, there's a Warbling Vireo nest. It's one of many in the park this year, but it's unusual in being clearly visible from the ground and not too high up. So with luck I'll have several weeks of rare views of Vireos raising their young.

Warbling vireo on nest

The male sings constantly while taking his turn on the nest, by the way. Quite charming. Also, those are spiderwebs all over the outside of the nest--an excellent structural material. Many thanks to Martin Sandler for pointing out the nest. Although it's fairly out in the open, I still would never have spotted it myself.

Yet another "Spring is Here" post

So it seems this my my third "Spring is here!" post in a row. Well, what can I say? The first Warblers have arrived!

Pine Warbler, a usual early-spring arrival

I saw my first Pine and Palm Warblers of Spring on Easter morning. The were at the southwest corner of the Great lawn, mostly ignoring the kids playing catch with their dad a few feet away.

Palm Warbler, also a reliable early bird

They did flush into a tree when people strolled by, not noticing them.

There were some Golden-crowned Kinglets there as well, looking very much like animated Easter eggs as they foraged in the grass.

Easter-egg bird

A couple of the Pine Warblers were about the most colorless I've ever seen--very drab even for a fall plumage bird, never mind Spring.

I was hypnotized by their grayness.

I haven't see any Yellow-Rumped warblers yet. Up to a couple of years ago, the Ramble was ankle-deep in them by this time in April. In 2013, there were those terrible Spring storms in the Gulf of Mexico which killed a huge number of early migrants, and the whoel Spring there were string north winds, I think the Yellow-Rumpeds went north inland that year--we hardly saw any in New York. last year they were a little more abundant, but nothing like before.

Anyway, other Spring migrants are arriving apace. The Black-Crowned Night Herons have started coming in; some of them will stay. Here's six of them in two willows--you can play "find the hidden birds".

Landscape with herons

There's been a Common Loon on the Reservoir for about a week, and someone spotted a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher in the North Woods the other day.
Also, a few Winter birds are still around. I went up to Inwood Hill Park last friday to track down a Horned Grebe reported there by Joe DiCostanzo. I hadn't managed to see a Horned Grebe all winter--they're a normal bird in this region, but not so abundant around Manhattan--, so I was glad to catch this one before it left.

at last!

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan...

Mourning Dove feeding fledgling, Hudson River Greenway near 24th Street

While I was upstate, I saw a report online from a reliable observer of a Eurasian Collared-Dove on the Hudson River Greenway just north of Chelsea Piers. That's quite a bird--though it's likely that one in this area is an escapee, there are established colonies in Florida, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that this was a wild bird. So on Monday (6/23), I went downtown to look for it.

Alas, no Collard-Dove for me. There were compensations, though, such as the Mourning Dove I saw feeding a fledgling. Plus, I saw a Raven flying nearby--probably part of the family living on the Chelsea Hotel. That's my 168th New York County species this year.

There were also a lot of Mockingbirds--I saw two adults carrying nesting materials, and several recent fledglings.

fledgling Mockingbird, Hudson River Greenway near 24th Street

Later in the week, the Conservancy opened the Hallet Sanctuary for an afternoon. There wasn't much there--Orioles and Robins nesting, and I heard a red-Bellied Woodpecker nearby. I took a walk around The Pond afterwards, and many of the usual summer residents were in evidence. The first to really catch my eye was a Great Egret.

Great Egret hunting, The Pond, Central Park

There were several adult Black-Crowned Night Herons flying around the pond, and an odd looking juvenile heron roosting near the far shore.

when you stare at the turtle, the turtle also... well, the maybe turtle ignores you

Stripy throat and chest like a juvenal, but not speckled on the back. I'm guessing this is a first-summer Black-Crowned, not yet molted out of its stripes underneath.

Elsewhere, Robins, Catbirds, and Starlings were enjoying the summer crop of berries.

hit-and-run berry snatching

savor the moment